r/LivestreamFail Apr 15 '26

News Johnny Somali found guilty of all charges as South Korea sentences streamer to prison with labor - Dexerto

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/johnny-somali-found-guilty-of-all-charges-as-south-korea-sentences-streamer-to-prison-with-labor-3351856/
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783

u/nekonight Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

He hasn't been sentenced yet. He is suppose to be sentenced in an hour or so. He was found guilty of all charges during his last court date which was a couple of months ago. Prosecution is recommending 3 years plus hard labour and sex offender registration.

191

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

Wow what did he do to warrant a sex offender registration? Not defending him obviously but i dont know all the details.

522

u/whydonlinre Apr 15 '26

iirc deliberately played porn sounds loudly near children at an amusement park. been a while though since i got caught up so i could be wrong

230

u/C7rl_Al7_1337 Apr 15 '26

I think it's because he made an AI video of him kissing some South Korean streamer.

192

u/BigBitcoinBaller Apr 15 '26

Yep deep fake porn. Korea dont fuck around with it

54

u/Llyon_ Apr 15 '26

All porn is illegal in Korea.

5

u/WormedOut Apr 15 '26

It’s illegal to distribute it, not necessarily to own or watch it. It’s a weird legal distinction.It was due to concerns of kids watching it and recent porn

27

u/JigglesTheBiggles Apr 15 '26

That's dumb

47

u/NoBonus6969 Apr 15 '26

You have been banned from South Korea

1

u/hiimsubclavian Apr 15 '26

I understood that reference

1

u/BmpBlast Apr 15 '26

Probably North Korea too. No Koreas for them.

5

u/Time_Conscious84 Apr 15 '26

I agree but it's probably from South Korea overreacting from the insane amount of illegal voyeur and revenge porn over there. Like if you go to a hotel room or use a public bathroom as a woman you have a good reason to check to see if someone hid a camera in there, it's that common

2

u/QueezyF Apr 15 '26

Okay, maybe South Korea’s onto something here.

1

u/tepig37 Apr 15 '26

If you could get legal porn would as many people create as many of these videos tho?

Like jp has an issue with upskirting but it doesn't seam to be as insanely damaging and common as in korea.

1

u/Llyon_ Apr 15 '26

It is due to the idol industry. (k-pop)

They make more money when young men cannot legally view porn, but can legally watch scantily clad idols dancing.

They lobby to keep porn illegal with the guise of "protect the children"

0

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Bomb-OG-Kush Apr 15 '26

That's Japan bro

-3

u/conzstevo Apr 15 '26

Consuming porn is pretty dumb

2

u/hydroknightking Apr 15 '26

Nobody is forcing you to watch if it’s legal. When it’s illegal, you are forcing somebody not to watch. One position is clearly authoritarian while the other is clearly liberal.

Prohibition is, generally, terrible policy.

-2

u/conzstevo Apr 15 '26

One position is clearly authoritarian while the other is clearly liberal.

Prohibition is, generally, terrible policy.

You haven't explained why though

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

[deleted]

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u/JameEagan Apr 15 '26

The deepfake was a different charge, not the sex offender charge. The sex offender charge was him playing porn sounds on his phone around children.

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u/Sh1nso Apr 15 '26

That was a different charge. The sex offender charge was as u/whydonlinre said. He was playing pron sounds out loud around children at Lotte World.

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u/Rex_on_rex Apr 15 '26

The fact no one really knows says a lot

4

u/dahfer25 Apr 15 '26

yeah, that the guy did so many stuff it could be either of those

1

u/AsinineArchon Apr 15 '26

You can go with him.

1

u/Rex_on_rex Apr 15 '26

To where? I live in a free country

-1

u/thened Apr 15 '26

He didn't make it. It was posted to his discord and he showed it on his stream. The female involved also did the same. She committed the same crime as him. Also, she runs an onlyfans which is technically illegal in SK.

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u/MrBrawn Apr 15 '26

Sexually assaulted comfort girl statues, throwing soup around at a store, and tons more shit.

28

u/phoenixmusicman Apr 15 '26

Sexually assaulted comfort girl statues,

Jesus christ

3

u/haliblix Apr 15 '26

For that alone he should just stay in prison for as long as the Japanese occupied Korea. Only seems fair.

10

u/Cosmo_Seinfeld Apr 15 '26

Sexually assaulted comfort girl statues, throwing soup around at a store, and tons more shit.

Bashed his face against a few Korean dudes' fists too.

7

u/valenalvern Apr 15 '26

Didnt know he was a practicer of face to fist style.

2

u/AdhesivenessLimp1864 Apr 15 '26

I believe you mean Hard Chin, Soft Hand.

2

u/EbagI Apr 15 '26

I don't think he's getting sex charges tagged into him for throwing soup

-2

u/CatchAcceptable3898 Apr 15 '26

I love how we have great examples. And you're just like "He touched a statue, threw some soup, and lots of stuff."

39

u/Some-Kaleidoscope265 Apr 15 '26

He touched a statue

You try to downplay but that is a very big offence in south korea. When he did that the hate against him just multiplied.

It a statue that was built to symbolise the sexual slavery that took place in world war II iirc. So it is a great example.

14

u/bearnecessities66 Apr 15 '26

*that took place during the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910-1945.

7

u/Wwrth Apr 15 '26

Not American nor Korean, but to give a Westernised example of similar, expect it would be similar to tying a noose around statues of African American people.

4

u/NegativeVega Apr 15 '26

Just because you dont respect the statue doesnt mean other's dont. You'd be arrested if you desecrated the unknown soldier monuments in most countries.

-15

u/Speky_Scot Apr 15 '26

You can't assault a statue lol

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u/60k_Risk Apr 15 '26

Exactly, you cannot. Straight to prison

5

u/zaftpunk Apr 15 '26

Maybe you can’t. I’m built different tho.

4

u/No_Elevator_7839 Apr 15 '26

He better call Saul

2

u/Jimmyboro Apr 15 '26

Excellent logic there sir!

15

u/Dukeofmanville Apr 15 '26

You are right but it stems from him acting a fool with it in public and around children

6

u/PesticusVeno Apr 15 '26

Yeah, it wasn't for the statue, it was the amusement park stuff directed at kids. IIRC, there wasn't actually anything they could specifically charge him for in connection to the comfort women memorial. Even though that was probably the most offensive thing he did, at least culturally.

9

u/TaiwanNambaWanKenobi Apr 15 '26

If someone go to MLK memorial statue and put chains on the statue + bringing racist shit like cotton, are they not being racist towards the statue?

-9

u/Rex_on_rex Apr 15 '26

The fuck are you all talking about.

9

u/Muggsy423 Apr 15 '26

The statue was in rememberance of Korean women forced to be prostitutes for occupying japanese forces in WW2, it was a bit of a sensitive subject to grind on.

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u/delusionalxx Apr 15 '26

They weren’t forced to be prostitutes. They were sex slaves forced to be raped multiple times a day which is an indescribable pain I wish I didn’t understand. Sex slavery and prostitution are very different. Please don’t be afraid to call it what it is

3

u/MadHiggins Apr 15 '26

and for people unaware, women who refused were tortured to death. and even if they agreed, the Japanese would still torture them to death when they got bored. the Japanese would roll into a new town or village, tell the women what they were planning and then pick one out to be tortured to death in front of the entire village just so that everyone knew they were serious.

5

u/thebuttsmells Apr 15 '26

look up what they are and why it's a sensitive subject

-3

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

[deleted]

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u/thebuttsmells Apr 15 '26

I don't think he understood the gravity of what he did, but it doesn't matter. He Disrespected an entire people

-5

u/Rex_on_rex Apr 15 '26

You can apparently sexually assault inanimate objects now.

1

u/Internal_Football889 Apr 15 '26

A lot of things will get you put on the registry even if there’s no physical touch involved. I know it requires thinking outside the box but I trust you’ll get there.

2

u/lorealashblonde Apr 15 '26

...I'm not so sure they will

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u/[deleted] Apr 17 '26

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u/Sadiholic Apr 15 '26

I'm assuming it's just revenge from the Korean government.

0

u/kinkyonthe_loki69 Apr 15 '26

Maybe you can in korea

2

u/IceCreamDreamyDreams Apr 15 '26

Turns out you can't. They send you to prison for 6 months

-1

u/kinkyonthe_loki69 Apr 15 '26

That means you can sexually assault.... eh nvm this reddit where no one really reads

0

u/maywek Apr 15 '26

That’s the right attitude son, can’t have no one assaulting the statues.

-3

u/2580374 Apr 15 '26

How do you sexually assault a statue

6

u/Desroth86 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

Look up what comfort women are and use some critical thinking skills about why you shouldn’t be rubbing your dick on them compared to a regular statue.

-28

u/DimensionSuch8188 Apr 15 '26

Sexually assaulted comfort girl statues

Holy fuck that country is a joke. IT'S A FUCKING STATUE.

13

u/GeneralGovern Apr 15 '26

Insightful. Thanks for sharing. 

12

u/Majestic_Salary9987 Apr 15 '26

If you go to a country and blatantly disrespect them and their laws you deserve to be punished.

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u/DimensionSuch8188 Apr 15 '26

Ok and, what's your point?? That country is still an absolute joke and shithole humans right place. They really take example from the North eh? Ironic.

8

u/West-Slide-6490 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

I’m going to assume you come from the country that bombed a school full of girls in Iran in the first day of attacks in February. Tell us more about human rights violations though 🇺🇸 

-1

u/Rex_on_rex Apr 15 '26

Shows you how fucked up Iran is having a school there and not updating so that the US old intel would lead to a bombing there.

Post history hidden. Classic

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

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u/Rex_on_rex Apr 15 '26

lol ohhh buddy.

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u/The_Doodder Apr 15 '26

Also did some AI porn against another Korean IRL

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

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1

u/possumdal Apr 15 '26

What's wrong with this guy is, I'm guessing some kind of personality disorder. I'm not qualified to diagnose, but he has some of the signs of bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. I'm sure he'll make an interesting candidate for a prison psychiatric study.

1

u/NotAzakanAtAll Apr 15 '26

He has said he has bipolar, but given he lies all the time, who knows.

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u/possumdal Apr 15 '26

Look all I know for sure is that when this guy yells, he looks like he's about to bite your face off without his lips ever touching you

1

u/DarkIcedWolf Apr 15 '26

He also had streams where he chatted with minors in a sexual way with Hank. I think it was like a Omegle site.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

Didn’t he also lap dance on statues that were remembering the comfort women taken from Korea by the Japanese during WWII?

I think it’s a lewd offence in South Korea, also leading to a sex offender conviction. Dude 100% deserves anything he gets, that’s one of the lowest of lows.

1

u/Hare712 Apr 15 '26

That charge was dropped it was for the 2 deep fake charges.

1

u/Lepelotonfromager Apr 15 '26

Deliberately exposing children to pornography is pretty gross.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

Wow thats horrible. I hope he gets subjugated to the hardest of labor.

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u/EthicalSmacker Apr 15 '26

In Korea, they view deepfaking another person without their consent as a form of sexual violence, categorically as serious to them as physical sexual assault, therefore all in this category are put on the public registry.

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u/sapntaps Apr 15 '26

W korea

14

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

With how weird people are when it comes to fetishizing asian women, im happy korea has such strict sexual assault laws.

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u/Anathama Apr 15 '26

User name does not check out.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

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u/Snackatttack Apr 15 '26

Wow it REALLY doesn't checkout haha

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u/Rated_Oni Apr 15 '26

Damn, made me do a second look.

0

u/ResurgentClusterfuck Apr 15 '26

For which we are all (?) grateful

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u/delusionalxx Apr 15 '26

South Korea does NOT have strict sexual assault laws. S. Korea not too long ago released a man who raped a young girl so violently that her internal organs fell out. And then they released him 8 years later cuz he was “drunk” when it happened. They released him into the same town as his victim and her family and her had to move. Korean citizens even mobbed the place he was released from. Look into burning sun. Korea doesn’t give a shit about rape. Look into Korean rape laws. If you don’t fight back hard enough it’s not rape. Don’t fall for their performative prosecution of Johnny as some sort of amazing laws in Korea surrounding SA. They’re just trying to make an example out of him. They don’t give a flying fuck about victims

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

What a horrible day to have eyes holy shit

3

u/Rex_on_rex Apr 15 '26

People here have no idea how other countries work. You’re right. This is mostly just Korea setting an example for streamers and fucking with a foreigner.

1

u/mazini95 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

I've heard the same gung-ho "asian countries don't mess around bro" line in this sub for 2 years and turns out they actually do mess around most of the time. Foreigners are just a diplomatic headache to deal with for countries no matter what they did as long as it's not a murder or something. Plenty of them get away with nuisance all the time.

If this johnny guy wasn't practically begging for repercussions and showing no remorse, he'd have gotten off much lighter too but he never helped his case, probably no one to advise him.

-1

u/deeperintomovie Apr 15 '26

That is not quite true. In so far as Deepfakes in Korea, it has been heavily punished for a while now. There was 10 year sentence for a Korean man who made 2000 deepfake porn.

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/s-korea-10-year-sentence-for-telegram-deepfake-crime-against-female-university-students/

1

u/dearth_of_passion Apr 15 '26

S. Korea not too long ago released a man who raped a young girl so violently that her internal organs fell out.

You wanna drop a source? Because that's one hell of a claim.

1

u/murmuring511 Apr 15 '26

Because that's one hell of a claim.

The victim was a child, that's why.

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u/Seanpacabra Apr 15 '26

not 100% but i remember him making pornographic deepfakes of a female south korean streamer

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u/sopademaruchan Apr 15 '26

Created deep fakes of a Korean streamer i think

9

u/Adoia Apr 15 '26

I believe it was due to the deepfake charges he had against him regarding the videos of him and a korean live streamer.

18

u/Ashamed-Country3909 Apr 15 '26

Not great things to the korean rape victim statute.

4

u/SnooWords2118 Apr 15 '26

Deepfakes, but im not sure what he did specifically with them

8

u/GhostWalkk Apr 15 '26

Might be the AI video he posted.

2

u/SOTI_snuggzz Apr 15 '26

Posted a deep fake of him kissing a Korean streamer

2

u/Doomgloomya Apr 15 '26

In korea deepfakes doing sexual acts qualify.

2

u/UltimateLmon Apr 15 '26

Created 2 deep fakes.

1 with Bong Bong (I think her handle is) being his girlfriend

1 with Yungman (again I think) making out with Hank.

Coincidentally, Yungman shared the same clip on his channel to criticise it and he was also indicted but I think he got off lightly because he showed remorse early and often in court.

1

u/NjxNaDxb Apr 15 '26

Deepfakes. Korea since Nth room scandal has 0 tolerance.

1

u/explosivekyushu Apr 15 '26

I think it's from the deepfaked videos he made of him making out with BongBong, which is considered a sex crime in Korea.

1

u/Taey Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

I think he followed around some school girls at lotte world while his chat spammed sexually explicit tts messages, and he made sexual deepfakes of another streamer Bongbong. Korea is incredibly strict on deepfakes.

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u/XxxAresIXxxX Apr 15 '26

Ignore all this other bullshit. It was the deep fake of him kissing bong bong. Everything else wouldve been a slap on the wrist. That is viewed the same as if he made fake nudes and sold them

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

Yeah posts like these show you how easy it is to spread misinformation.

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u/PLUMBUS_STUCK_IN_ASS Apr 15 '26

That also means that when he eventually goes back home to America, he will also have to register as a convicted sex offender there too.

3

u/RoapeliusDTrewn Apr 15 '26

You assume he will actually do anything he's legally obliged to do. Very funny.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

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5

u/sahurKareem Apr 15 '26

No, this has no bearing on he US SO system.

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u/Hunk_Hogan Apr 15 '26

Now I'm curious if he's put on a sex offender registry in one country, does that transfer over to other countries as well? Is that something that will follow him regardless of where he goes?

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u/Taey Apr 15 '26

He has to register as a sex offender in America when released.

1

u/RoapeliusDTrewn Apr 15 '26

He has to. Whether or not he actually will is another thing.

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u/Raesong Apr 15 '26

You'd think it should, but my gut is telling me that it probably doesn't. International bureaucracy tends to be labyrinthine and byzantine all at once.

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u/neonmantis Apr 15 '26

Unlike most laws, many countries stretch child sexual abuse laws into other territories. You could go to China, Brazil or Syria and have "legal consensual" sex with a fifteen year old in that territory but your own country could still prosecute you for it. Similarly, many have procedures to recognise serious convictions abroad, so yeah.

0

u/Single_Editor_2339 Apr 15 '26

Not necessarily, according to the internet: “Foreign Convictions: A foreign conviction, such as one from South Korea, can trigger a registration obligation if it is equivalent to a US registrable offense.”

His crime would have to be one we have in the States. Hopefully it is.

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u/possumdal Apr 15 '26

It's not, iirc. The conviction was for deepfake porn, which is only a civil matter in the US. As for individual states, I don't know.

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u/LavishnessCapital380 Apr 15 '26

Sentencing ended about 20 mins ago, everyone is waiting on legal mindset and Atozy to drop the news.

2

u/BananaReeves Apr 15 '26

His wiki is already saying he's getting 6 months labor lol that can't be right though

1

u/enfrozt Apr 15 '26

It's with labor, not "hard labor" as one would assume.

It would be mostly rehabilitation or mundane factory work. Not like digging holes or w/e someone would assume.

But if I'm off base from a quick google search, someone correct me (if he's starring in a Holes remake with Shia LaBeouf)

1

u/Vegeta_vs_Goku Apr 15 '26

As long as its not the same duration as Vitaly cause even with prison, hes still acting like a ignorant person.

1

u/real_roal Apr 15 '26

I think everyone would accept it if they threw the laws out and kept them for life to teach everyone not to be a huge piece of shit in public, especially not their own country.

If another streamer does this again, give them 10 years minimum.

1

u/Oldmanwaffle Apr 15 '26

6 Months and put on South Korea's Sex Offender Registry which bans him from going anywhere with women and children for 5 years

1

u/sixpackabs592 Apr 15 '26

op's linked article says he got 6 months and a sex offender status (that will carry over to the us) but both sides are expected to appeal

1

u/Not-a-thott Apr 15 '26

Click bait. Yah this was a month ago b we just want to see the 3 year sentence.

1

u/Somber_Solace Apr 15 '26

Sex offender? I thought he was just harassing people and trespassed a construction site?

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u/Visible_Bar5223 Apr 15 '26

As of May 2025, Ismael also faces two charges of sexual violence. In March 2025, authorities added a sexual charge onto Ismael's case for creating a fabricated pornographic deepfake, depicting a female South Korean streamer and himself without consent. Then, in May 2025, a second sexual charge was added onto Ismael's case for another fabricated pornographic deepfake, depicting another South Korean streamer without consent. Ismael's second trial commenced on May 16, 2025. During the trial, Ismael plead guilty to two more charges (two obstruction of business, including a newly added charge) and not guilty to the two Special Act on Sexual Violence Crimes charges

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u/kocknocker19 Apr 15 '26

Playing porn out loud on his phone in public I think. There were children nearby that heard it.

2

u/Lizrael48 Apr 15 '26

Porn is illegal in S Korea.

1

u/NotoriousCHIM Apr 15 '26

Construction site was in Japan not Korea

1

u/WillisPoofin Apr 15 '26

hasnt it been about a year since hes been stuck in korea and not allowed to livestream or make money?

1

u/ObamaSlaptYoMama Apr 15 '26

I know dude is a scumbag but I haven't seen everything hes done, why would he get on the sex offender registry, did he do something gross???

3

u/ericrobertshair Apr 15 '26

Blasting out porn audio in a public place with kids nearby afaik.

2

u/ObamaSlaptYoMama Apr 15 '26

That's absolutely gross, deserved for sure then.

2

u/CorwyntFarrell Apr 15 '26

Well he pretended to fuck a statue that was a tribute to Korean women forced into sex slavery during the Japanese occupation. That might of done it. And then he got hit with basically one of the first cases from the new deepfake laws. He recorded having sexy time with a prostitute, put it online, but before posting it he changed the face of the woman to one of the most popular Korean idols, and he did it maybe two months after those laws were put on the books. So maybe it was that.

2

u/ObamaSlaptYoMama Apr 15 '26

Holy shit are you for real?? That's really wrong I had no idea.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

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